Endodontic care is necessary when the nerve tissue in the tooth is irreversibly damaged due to decay, trauma, or tooth fracture. A root canal, though scary-sounding, is generally a simple pain-free procedure that allows you to retain a tooth that in previous decades would have been removed.

When the nerve inside the tooth is damaged it can be very painful and as the decay continues to spread, the nerve will die. At that point, the pain will disappear temporarily, but as the area of infection increases, an abscess forms and pressure builds. It is usually characterized by a throbbing pain and the tooth is extremely tap-sensitive. Once the damaged tissue is removed and the canal sealed with a special cement and root canal filling, the tooth can be restored with a permanent filling or crown.